A Katsu PimpSlap: The Omakase/Kaiseki Experience

The elder Brother Sung has a big birthday this weekend, so we decided to take in an early celebration with an omakase at Katsu thursday night. This was our third visit to the venerable establishment, and our first try with the omakase. We were told that this was actually a kaiseki, which to my understanding is a more traditional presentation that highlights the presentation of highly seasonal ingredients. I think it's safe to say that Katsu blew us away, and, to share G Wiv's sentiments, we have now officially become Katsu's bitches. This was a gastro-pimpslap.


I should preface this post by admitting that I am not especially well-versed in traditional Japanese cuisine, so I must apologize in advance for any gross errors in identifying the various courses. I did my best to jot down notes as we were eating in order to keep things straight.


Our first course was designed to highlight the flavors of the fall. Clockwise from the top right we had poached monkfish liver, layered with sliced mountain yam, then there is grilled Shishamo fish with a belly full of roe, and grilled japanese eggplant in bonito broth with bonito flakes. The monkfish, which was described to us as "the foie gras of the sea", was rich yet delicate, and the mountain yam lent a very satisfying almost raw-eggwhite-ish gooey consistency that we really enjoyed. The Shishamo was practically bursting with roe - it was a real treat to bite into (see the cross section photo below - the whole fish was about 80% roe). I think my favorite from this course - and one of my favs for the whole night - was the eggplant, which was just perfectly executed: grilled till just tender without being mushy at all, with a very rich, earthy eggplant flavor that was enhanced by the bonito broth. Beautiful.


Cross-section of the Shishamo belly bursting with roe...


The next course was a very nice tuna tartare, which Mrs. Katsu explained came from a part of the belly that was so rich and tender that Katsu had to literally scrape the meat off, as it couldn't be filleted. It was topped with sliced scallions and a quail egg, and served with a side of soy sauce and wasabi that we could mix in to suit our tastes. Very rich, very tasty.


The third course was a beautiful plate of sashimi that i was unfortunately unable to photograph to my satisfaction. Succulant uni, Bluefin tuna, fluke with ponzu tobiko, Alaskan king salmon with salmon roe, and yellowtail from tsukiji market in Tokyo were all stellar, but my favorite by far was the sea urchin(I believe she said it was Matsushita uni, I could be mistaken), which was perhaps the most melt-in-your-mouth piece of uni I have ever tasted.

Fourth we enjoyed Katsu's Matsutake mushroom soup, served with ginko nuts, shrimp and chicken in a beautiful teapot. The broth had a wonderful rich mushroom aroma, and the flavor was so subtle and comforting I could see myself downing pot after pot of it on a cold autumn day. I'm definitely ordering this the next time I go to Katsu.


The next course was a tempura offering of enoki mushroom, oyster mushroom, shiso leaf, and nori wrapped around a pate of uni and whitefish. The enoki mushroom was fantastic, perfectly crisp exterior with tender, chewy flesh inside. The nori wrapped pate i found most interesting because it reminded me of the Shishamo fish from the first course, as the briny pate would burst from nori wrapper upon biting into it.


The tempura was followed by grilled scallop and kiwi sunomono, topped with surf clam and a miso-vinaigrette. Really beautiful dish, very well balanced. The scallop was lightly grilled and sliced so you had alternating bites of the seared exterior and the rare, almost gelatenous interior. The kiwi added more acidity than sweetness, and offered a really nice textural contrast to the scallop.


Nice grillmarks!


Next we had miso soup with fried and fresh tofu. Very nice soup, unfortunately it did not photograph well. This was followed by the saikyo marinated duck, served with japanese pumpkin, ginko nuts, roasted chestnut, and grilled matsutake mushrooms.


The ninth course was sushi: a generous Katsu-cut of superwhite tuna, another sublime piece of uni, and a very plump amaebi.



While there is no doubt the food and presentation exceeded our expectations, I think what made the experience truly special was the attention we received from both Katsu and Mrs. Katsu. While he was in the kitchen preparing our meal, she was very enthusiastic in describing every course to us, and very patient and helpful with any questions we had. I really felt that we were guests there rather than customers, and that's something I've noticed every time I've been there. Needless to say we are eagerly anticipating our next meal at Katsu.


Cheers,

the Brothers Sung

SungBros wrote:Fourth we enjoyed Katsu's Matsutake mushroom soup, served with ginko nuts, shrimp and chicken in a beautiful teapot. The broth had a wonderful rich mushroom aroma, and the flavor was so subtle and comforting I could see myself downing pot after pot of it on a cold autumn day. I'm definitely ordering this the next time I go to Katsu.

Glad you enjoyed Katsu, Sung. It is indeed one of the finest Japanese destinations in the Chi-town locale... The matsutake mushroom soup is excellent, but due to the mushroom's rarity I don't see the dish being available much longer. If I were you I'd double back and get one before it's gone! The soup + some sushi makes for a great, light dinner.

I believe that the soup ala carte is $18.50... but do you know if you can order the enoki mushroom tempura seperately?

Is a pimpslap a good thing?

I wondered that too, when I saw the subject line, but we can only conclude that it must be from the review.

I guess it might depend on whether you're the slapper (pimp) vs. the slapee (ho)?

He's just saying he's also Katsu's bitch, and thus the recipient of a pimp slap reminding him of his place.

It's no better or worse than saying "I am Katsu's Bitch"

gleam wrote:He's just saying he's also Katsu's bitch, and thus the recipient of a pimp slap reminding him of his place.

It's no better or worse than saying "I am Katsu's Bitch"

You know, in a twisted sort of way that almost makes sense .

SungBros wrote:This was a gastro-pimpslap.

Brothers Sung,

Before reading your post I wasn't quite sure what a PimpSlap was. Now, after reading your post, I'm quite sure I want one, and soon, at least a Katsu style PimpSlap.

Great post, lovely pictures.

Enjoy,
Gary

Why am I suddenly reminded of Barbara Billingsley in Airplane?

Anyway, yes, very cool report that makes me want to go back.

I have moved the debate about the acceptability/offensiveness of the phrase "pimp slap" over to Site Chat. Let's keep this thread about Katsu's food, please.

Aaron, for the moderators

Nice review, Sung. Would you mind giving an idea of the price per person for your dinner?

kl5 wrote:Nice review, Sung. Would you mind giving an idea of the price per person for your dinner?

When making the reservation, Katsu recommended 120/person, which we did. We also consumed two bottles of cold sake (Sen nen-ju and one other that I cannot remember the name of... it is the one described as "elegant" on the sake list) which were both recommended to us by Mrs. Katsu and priced around $20-25. She also sent us two complementary glasses of a pricier, very fruity-flavored sake to enjoy with the sunomono. All told it came to 180/person for 3 hours of luxurious consumption.

SungBros wrote:I think it's safe to say that Katsu blew us away,

Brothers Sung,

Motivated by your Katsu post Ellen, myself and a just back from Michigan Steve Z went to Katsu Sunday night, we didn't have Omakase, but mirrored a few of your dishes, in particular the amazing Matsutake Mushroom Soup and delectable Ankimo (Monkfish liver).

I so enjoy the aroma of Matsutake Mushroom Soup I could almost forgo eating the soup, though then I would have missed the delicate citrus flavor, and aroma, of Sudachi, a small lime like citrus, which lent subtle accent to the soup. Ankimo was scrumptious, silky, offset nicely by ponzu sauce and Yamaimo (Mountain Yam).

Katsu started us with a terrific combination of Japanese Pumpkin with a skin-on cooked chestnut in a lightly sweet sauce topped with a filigree of gold leaf. I've never had skin on chestnut, I should have inquired a little more closely as to the preparation. We rounded out our meal with a mix of drop-dead-gorgeous sashimi, the super premium yellowtail straight from Tukiji market was so good it almost made me weep, perfectly grilled whole squid cut into rings and thinly sliced grilled beef tongue, accented with a squeeze of lemon and dash of Togarashi. As an added bonus Katsu had real, as opposed to ersatz, wasabi in house Sunday.

A wonderful meal greatly enhanced by Katsu and Haruko's caring charm.

Enjoy,
Gary

Even though I saw no evidence of an Eldorado with gold plated grill parked out front, dinner at Katsu was excellent as always. Here are some highlights.

Ankimo (Monkfish Liver)


Matsutake Mushroom Soup


Japanese Pumpkin & Gold Plated Chestnut


Squid, Edward Scissorhands Style

I always park my Eldorado in the back.

Sung Bros, nice review and great pics!

Are most items on the (seasonal) menu and arranged into a kaiseki dinner? Just wondering if the kaiseki is a new addition at Katsu and if so how much it owes to the quality, though sadly not quantity, of recognition Matsumoto got. At any rate, this is somewhat* great.

*only because it's a bit too long a drive for dinner for me